As well as discussing planning considerations for the development of the Ventnor Winter Gardens and the Mill Bay tower this afternoon, the committee will be considering the personal circumstances of one applicant in St Helens.
Although officers are recommending refusal for the ‘Retention of residential accommodation consisting of two linked caravans and a timber extension’, breathing space of five years temporary planning permission has been suggested by some (including the CPRE), whilst taking into account the applicant’s personal circumstances.
Background on circumstances
A brief summary of the situation (according to the application) is that a family of six from Brading moved to America, when they returned to the Island they couldn’t find affordable housing, so moved into a caravan in the garden of applicant’s mother. They used her house for cooking and washing etc.
As the children grew older and needed separate rooms, they bought another caravan, situated both at the bottom of the garden, out of view from the road etc and built a small wooden extension to the caravans.
Housing officer concerned
The report states that the Council’s housing officer has raised concerns about the standard of accommodation and the highway engineer objected to the application ‘due to insufficient visibility’, even though the planning officers consider that the proposal is acceptable on highway safety grounds.
The Brading Town Council objected to the application as they considered the residence to be of substandard design and construction and would, in their eyes, ‘result in undesirable development outside of the development envelope setting a precedent for future development’.
Local support
Local residents sent letters of support urging the council to consider the personal circumstances of the applicant and reminding them that there would be no visual impact on neighbouring properties or from the road.
Officers recommend refusal
The conclusion of the report states …
Having given due weight and appropriate consideration to the above the application is considered to conflict with National Policy and Local Policies and the application is therefore being recommended for refusal.
It is suggested in the interests of the family involved that an Enforcement Notice with a reasonable period of compliance is served and the Council should work jointly with the Housing section to ensure an acceptable transition for the family into more appropriate accommodation.
We’ll let you know once we hear the outcome.
